1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electric power production, and more specifically to a steam turbine with a resonating blade for electric power production.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A steam turbine is used in the electric power production to convert some of the energy in a high pressure and high temperature steam into electrical energy in which the steam is passed through a multiple staged turbine that drives an electric generator. Other engines can also be used to drive a generator such as an industrial gas turbine engine or an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine. These engines can be relatively high efficient converters of chemical energy into mechanical energy —such as the steam turbine and the IGT—or relatively lower efficient converters such as in the internal combustion engines (ICE). One reason the ICE engine is so low in efficiency compared to the other two mentioned above is that the exhaust gas from the engine is still very high in temperature and thus high in potential energy. The exhaust gas from a steam turbine might be around 400 F because of the more highly efficient turbine that decreases the temperature of the gas flow. Still, even in the steam turbine, the exhaust gas discharged from the power generating system has some potential energy that is wasted by discharging the exhaust into the atmosphere.
The prior art reference U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,094 B2 issued to Jacobsen on Apr. 5, 2005 and entitled RESONANT ELECTRICAL GENERATION SYSTEM discloses a cantilever beam that resonates by application of energy pulses from a pulsatile linear combustor that provides fluid pressure against a piston that is directly connected to the cantilever beam. The pulsating combustor pushes on the piston that then pushes on the cantilever beam to resonate a wire coil connected on the end of the beam, where the moving coil passes back and forth between a permanent magnetic to produce electrical energy.